Failing and Gaining
by Animaniac108
Summary: When the Chemlitrey Clovreal fails his tests, he needs to learn and try again. But no matter what, he'll always need some help. He couldn't do it alone. No, he needed the best tutors in town. And who else to call, but the Elritch brothers? /Setting: at the end of FMAB, but with a lot of new stuff. Slight Modern AU. credit for the cover goes to: rinmarugames
1. Summary and stuff

_**FMA/B**_

_**OC-centric**_

_**Mystery, Action, Family**_

_**Edward Elric, Alphonse Elric, OC, OC**_

_**SUMMARY:**_

People keep saying, "When life puts you down, don't stay down. Stand up."

But what if the best thing to do is to stay down?

"Do what you think is best,"

But what if that you think is best…. Is actually the worst for people around you.

"Don't give up."

But what if that's what needs to be done?

~When the Chemlitrey Clovreal fails his tests, he needs to learn and try again. But no matter what, he'll always need some help. He couldn't do it alone. No, he needed the best tutors in town.

And who else to call, but the Elritch brothers!?~

=**Setting: at the end of FMAB, but instead of taking Ed's ability to use alchemy in exchange for Al's body, they are sent to the other side of the gate, as some sort of assistants or workers for Truth, with a mission. **

**What have they lost? **

**All connection with their original side of the gate. Well, at least that's what Truth told them. Al returns to his original body, but Ed still has his automail limbs.=**

Disclamer: [because I just KNOW that I'll forget to put one in every chapter.] I do not own FMA and/or FMAB in any way, shape or form. I only own my OCs, and the plot. If there are mentions of places, people, or anything else that are in the 'real world', please keep in mind that I hold no claim over them. As previously stated, I only own my OCs and the plot.

Have a good day/night!

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE**

I know i haven't been updating for a really long time now, but i just lost almost all my love for Kuroshitsuji and Letter Bee. I have had this idea for a long time now, and that just really overlapped my love for said anime. I'm really sorry. Good news: i won't discontinue any of my fanfics, but it WILL take a lot of time before i actually upload new chapters. Please bear with me. Thank you.


	2. Chapter 1: I'm Stubborn

March 18, XXXX, Tuesday

[I know this doesn't make sense, but bear with me guys. I don't really have a brain right nao QAQ]

It was time. It was time.

The young platinum blonde said, staring nervously at the front doors to the principal's office. "Oh, dear God…. Please have mercy on my poor and unfortunate soul," he said, slightly-false tears streaming down his face.

"Mister Clovreal, you may now enter the office," said the principal's assistant. A deep brown-haired woman in her early 20's with brown eyes. She stood in front of him, shadowing him with her intimidating height and glare. The woman just had to be 6"0!

The boy stood up and sighed, running his fingers through his long hair nervously. "I am going to die, aren't I, Miss Pennomble?," he whimpered, smiling warily at the woman in front of him.

The woman sneered at him and took a step to the side, giving him enough space to walk to the office without having the risk of him taking off as soon as he had the chance. "You were dead the moment you got on my bad side, Clovreal. And I am highly certain that you are aware of that."

With a sheepish smile, the boy rubbed the back of his head and took small, slow steps towards the doors. His eyes darted around him, searching for a possible escape.

Miss Pennomble reached out a hand and pinched the boy's ear, dragging him to the office with much difficulty to restrain herself from ripping his ear apart. "Oh no, you don't," she begun, "You're not escaping this time, Clovreal."

A nervous laugh escaped the boy's lips as he stared at the nearing doors with horror. "Wish me luck, Miss Pennomble. It was a pleasure getting to meet you before I died," he sulked, standing up on his own two feet and walking towards the doors himself. He reached a hand out and grasped the golden handles, about to turn them, before an amused chuckled was heard behind him.

"It would never be a pleasure for me to meet you, Mister Clovreal. May the good Lord have mercy on your soul."

* * *

"Mister Clovreal," said the woman sitting down on the large desk in front of said boy, eyes digging holes on his forehead. "I presume you understand the reason on why you are to grace me with your presence once again, hm?"

"Yes, Missis Flernder," said the platinum-blonde boy, finding the wooden floor highly amusing. And of course, that was just an excuse for him to _not _ look at the woman's intimidating glare.

The woman's graying-blonde hair was tied back into a tight bun, eyes of blue and lips in a straight line.

"Then you must know as much as I do about the consequences that are included with your… mistakes, correct?"

"Yes, Missis Flernder."

"Then you must know what must be done."

The boy gulped at he finally lifted his head and stared at the woman with glossy and horrified eyes, threatening to spill tears at any moment. "Please don't make me do it, Missis Flernder. You know how devastated my mother will be once she finds out."

"Then you should have know that from the very start. Before you started dozing off during classes and bothering your classmates."

"But you don't understand! If you would just let me explain-"

"There is no need for you to keep babbling about nonsense. I have already heard them the last time you have given me a mind-throbbing headache, Mister Clovreal."

"Please, just try to underst-"

"There is NOTHING to understand, Mister Clovreal."

"But-"

"No 'but's', Mister Clovreal. You will report this to your mother and come back here with her as soon as possible."

"I can't do that!"

The woman quirked an eyebrow at the boy, eyes still in their heated glare. "And why is that?"

"B-Because…. Er…. Well…." Chem stuttered, looking for a way to put his explanation into words. "She-she's sick. Can't even get out of bed, Missis Flernder. If she hears about this, she might just have a heart attack. Please try to understand. I promise to do better next school year! Please!" he begged, tears streaming down his pale cheeks, as he clasped his hands together to his chest and stared pleadingly into the cold-hearted principal's steely eyes.

"Then try to understand that you have just wasted your only chance. This school year was your only chance in proving to me that you actually can pass the level. If you couldn't pass this grade, what much of the next?," she sighed. "I gave you one chance, and you blew it. There is noting more I can do for you."

The boy racked his brain for ideas on how to make up for his devastating grades and behavior in class, sniffing and wiping his tears away, only to have them come back. The young 10-year old hiccupped as he covered his face with his hands, ashamed to no extent.

If only he could get the principal, and all of his teachers, to understand why he has been acting as such. Why he slept at classes, and why he kept on 'bothering' his classmates. Truth be told, he only asked his classmates for help. The first few months were alright with them, but when a little over 4 months came, they became annoyed and started telling the teachers on how much of a bother he has been.

"I-If you'd just give me one more, ONE MORE, I promise you that I'll pass with the highest grades in class. I SWEAR on my family's name. Please, just PLEASE, give me one last chance!"

The principal bit her lip and pushed her glasses on the bridge of her nose, turning away from the child. Sure, she was cold-hearted, but when it came to crying children, her heart just couldn't take it.

She sighed once more and opened a drawer of her desk and plucked a flyer out from under it, handing it to the boy afterwards. The boy still had his hands over his eyes, thus not seeing the flyer and 'ignoring' the principal. With another sigh, she grabbed the boy's right hand and placed the flyer on his hand, after wiping his hand with tissue as to not get the flyer wet.

The boy peeled his eyes open and stared at the flyer, rubbing the blurriness out of his eyes. "Wh-What is this, Missis Flernder?," he asked, calming down slightly. Keyword: SLIGHTLY.

"It's a summer school," she said, "You are given 4 months to study one school year's worth of lessons. It will take place during the summer of the school. Only few will be attending, but that is only due to the fact that they have passed all subjects, except one or two. You, on the other hand, managed to fail almost every single subject. You even managed to fail PE class, even if you are healthy enough and have a healthy build. I just don't understand what is wrong with you. In fact, there's NOTHING to understand at all."

The boy started to cry once again, feeling his hope shatter to a million pieces. "P-Please! Let me take the summer school! Please!"

"Give me one good and valid reason on why I should, and I will let you join."

Chem's eyes widened as he lifted his head to stare at the woman, "Y-You mean it?"

"Oh, yes. You show enough determination. If only you showed that during your previous classes, you wouldn't be in this situation."

The boy flinched at that and gulped, bowing his head to stare at the ground. He racked his brain once again for any idea. Anything!

"I am giving you 10 minutes to think of one. Time starts…

Now."

He shut his eyes and thought hard and deeply of anything he could tell her, only finding a few answers each minute.

Time passed and he slowly collected his thoughts, organizing and reorganizing them, slowly and carefully.

"Time is up," the principal announced, "What is your answer?"

"Because I'm stubborn."

The woman stared at the boy in bewilderment, not expecting that kind of answer. She expected him to say something along the lines of 'because I need to!' or 'to make my family proud!' But she definitely did NOT expect this,

"Elaborate." She commanded.

"I. Am. Stubborn.

"It may not sound smart enough for you, but it's true. I can't just accept this. No, I WON'T accept this. I may not have a smart explanation, but this is enough. I am stubborn. I will not leave you, or anyone of this school, alone until you say yes and let me in. I will not walk from this room until you give me another chance.

"I know that I have just wasted my chance, but do you really believe that I would just stay there and wait for another one to pop up? No. I'll find another way to prove my worth, and that 'way' is right here." He said, pointing a shaking hand to the flyer the principal had given to him a while ago.

"You might be thinking, 'this kid's going crazy. Thinking I'll give him another chance, only to have him sleep in class and bother his classmates once again.' But I swear to you, I SWEAR, that I'll make you, and everyone else in the school, proud.

"So, know this, even if you turn me down today, I'll still come back tomorrow. There's nothing that'll stop me from trying to get into the next level. Please," he begged, eyes hardening slightly with fierce determination. "Give me another chance. I want to learn once again. I promise you, I'll keep my mind under control."

'What did he just-'

"And I'll make you proud to even have me as a student."

The woman sighed and shook her head, smiling slightly at the child. With a groan, she stood up from her sear and grabbed a pen, "The children of this generation sure are persistent. Alright," she said, taking the flyer from his hands and writing some stuff down before giving it back to him. "I am allowing you to attend the summer class. The lessons will still be the same as the previous school year's, so it's best if you start studying. Especially in Basic chemistry. Remember, this is your FINAL chance. Don't blow it up."

The child's eyes widened, as well as his mouth, in pure happiness and excitement. He jumped up and down, grinning from ear-to-ear. "THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU!" he said, smiling widely at the woman.

She smiled back and ruffled his hair, "Now, in case you need help with your studies, there are two people, brothers, who could help you. Their contact information has be written down, courtesy of my. And when they ask for a codename, give them this: apple, faber, sky, seven, zero. Tell them I asked for their help, and that I need them to help you. Am I clear?"

"Crystal!" the boy cheered, finally settling down and standing still. His smile never left though. _I don't think it'll be coming off soon,_ thought the woman.

"Okay, that enough. Get out of here, call the boys, and get ready for classes. We start next week. Don't fail me, Clovreal."

"I WON'T!," he cheered, bouncing out of the door and through the empty, yet lighted, halls.

* * *

**AT HOME**

* * *

Chem smiled and opened the door, stepping in and running to his room, yelling a quick 'I'm home!' and slamming his door shut. The boy plopped down on his bed and stared up at the flyer, which he held at arm's distance. Written on the bottom of the flyer were three sets of numbers.

Eldrich home: xxX-Xxx-X

Ed Eldrich cell: xXX-xXx-X

Al Eldrich cell: Xxx-XxxXX

He blinked and gathered all his notes into his bag as neatly as he could and walked out of his room, down the stairs and into the living room, where the phone was. He picked it up and stared at the numbers on the paper.

'Hmm…. Ed? Or Al?... I dunno…. A is the first letter of the alphabet, so maybe Al might be the 'higher' of the brothers' he thought. 'I'll call Ed….'

Slowly and uncertainly, he pressed the buttons according to what was written on the paper. One ring, two rings, and then finally, someone answered. Although it wasn't really the kind of answer/ reply he expected.

"Who the hell is this and what the hell do you want?"

The boy blinked and gulped, suddenly scared and highly intimidated by the person on the other end of the line. "M-My name is Chem and….. well, Missis Flernder t-told me to c-call you in case I n-needed help with m-my studies-"

"Haaaa?" Ed groaned, "Her again? Ugh, fine. What's the code?"

Chem racked his brain to remember the code, and finally found it. "I-It's 'apple, faber, sky, seven, zero'" he said uncertainly.

The person on the other end of the line let out a frustrated sigh and said, "Alright, Alright. When do you need help?"

"Uh…. Sometime around this week. I-If that's alright with you, Mister Ed." He stuttered.

"Eh? This week? Hmm…. I think we got time. How does Wednesday sound?"

"I-It's good. H-how will we meet?"

"Well, where you live, obviously. Where do you live anyways? Is it near PennyBridgelle Academy?"

"Yes, actually. Just around 2 blocks from the school." The boy said, wondering if it was alright to trust his address with this stranger. When some seconds passed, he nodded and decided to trust them. Missis Flernder did trust them after all, right? "I live in Sundern street, house 568. It's the house with white paint and a brown, tilled roof. Seriously, you can't miss it. It's the only white house in the street."

[idk how long a block is, so I searched google. XD I think it's like a street or something. If anyone could give me the correct answer, that'd be great! Thanks! XD ]

Seconds passed as he heard what seemed to be the sound of a pen quickly writing down on paper.

"Alright… wait. How does tomorrow sound? Al just told me we had stuff to do on Wednesday."

The boy thought for a moment and shook his head, even if he knew Ed couldn't see. "No, not really. Er….. should I start calling you 'Teacher' now?"

He heard what sounded like teeth chattering before Ed finally answered, "N-No. Just Ed's alright. Don't call me teacher. Bring up painful memories."

The boy gasped as worry and guilt flooded through him, "oh, god! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to-"

"NO, NO! It's okay!" Ed said, cutting the boy off. "Nothing to worry about, really. So, see you tomorrow?"

"Y-Yeah…. See you tomorrow."

The call ended and Chem put the phone down, ran to his room, and plopped into [onto?] his bed once again. Thoughts raced in his mind. Could he trust these brothers? Maybe. The principal trusted them, so why shouldn't he? Should he tell his mom? Probably not. She'd have a heart attack. Should he tell his sister? DEFINITELY not. God, if she heard about it, she'd be tormenting him about his poor grades for as long as it took for hell to become as peaceful as heaven.

With a sigh, he covered his eyes with his lower arm and relaxed his body and mind. Before he could sleep though, he stood up to take his hoodie and pants off, including his socks and shoes. What were left on him were his black undershirt and black boxers.

Faster than the speed of light, he fell asleep as soon as his body fully hit the bed, pulling the fluffy blanket on top of him before he could.


	3. Chapter 2: Short Teacher is Short

Chapter two: Teacher Says… Don't Call Him Small.

March 19, XXXX, Wednesday

"Chem, sweetie. Chemmy, wake up."

The boy groaned and turned the other way from the voice, shielding himself with his blanket. "No… Just five more minutes…."

With a sigh, the mother shook her son, tugging the blanket off of him at the same time. "Chem, wake up. You're friends are here."

A that, Chem sat up and blinked at his mother with great difficulty. That was weird, since "Mom, I have no friends."

"Huh? Then who are the two boys downstairs?"

Eh? Two boys? That was weird, the only boys he knew were….

_Oh, that's right,_he thought,_Ed and Al Eldrich. But they weren't supposed to be here until…_

The boy bolted from his bed, grabbing whatever clothes he could get his hands on, and dashed to the bathroom. That was right, he did tell Ed that they could come over today, but he never said anything about the time. "Mom! What time did they arrive?" he called from the bathroom.

"Uhm…. Around 8:45 am!"

The boy glanced at the wall clock and gasped, it was already 9:30!

With great difficulty, the boy tried to make his body move according to how he wanted it to move. The sponge-like thingy scrubbed the sweat and dried tears off of his body as the foamy shampoo cascaded downwards and into the drain.

Around ten minutes passed before he stepped out of the shower and dried himself, putting his clothes on afterwards. The young boy dried his hair to the best he could within 30 seconds and dashed down the stairs, throwing his dirty clothes and towel into the laundry basket and ran into the living room, panting and glaring at the clock.

"Uh…. Hello, Chem…?" said one of the two occupants of the sofa.

Chem blinked and looked at the two strangers. Both had golden hair and golden eyes, but the taller of the two had short hair, while the other sported long hair in a braid. Even longer than Chem's own hair, which reached his shoulders.

The taller of the two had his hand raised, as if waving a hand or waiting to be called to recite in class. The man smiled gently at the boy as he stood up and walked over to the young boy. "Hello. My name is Al Eldrich. My brother and I are going to be tutoring you from time-to-time, alright?"

" 'C'mon, Al. You don't need to speak to the kid like he's a….. well, a kiddier-kid," snorted the braided man, arms folded on his chest and legs 'manly' crossed.

The boy blinked and stared up at the tall man towering over him and stuttered, "I-I'm Chemlitrey Clovreal. But you can call me Chem…. It's nice to meet you in person."

A chuckle was heard as the tall man bent down and patted the boy's head gently, smiling softly at the child. "It's a pleasure to meet you as well, Chem."

The boy smiled brightly and flushed, not used to being treated like a child or even patted on the head. The momentum was broken though, thank to a certain braided man.

"Chemlitrey, huh? Long name. Even 'Chem'… I think I'm going to call you 'Lit'," the oldest male in the room smirked, golden eyes staring directly at the boy's own set of strangely colored eyes; a lighter shade of crystal blue.

The boy frowned at the man, but did not make any sign of objection. "Alright, fine with me. Just not anything 'out of my name', if you would." Truthfully, the boy did not like the name at all, but who was he to talk back to the people who were going to help him?

Al smiled again and stood up, grabbing the boy's hand and leading him towards the sofa, sitting him between him and Ed. "Since we're going to be hanging around each other for as long as we actually can, I think it's safe to say that we have to say some things about ourselves, get to know each other more. So that we know just what to say, and what not to. I'm pretty sure no one in this room wants to get on anyone's bad sides, right?"

Ed groaned and ruffled his bangs, obviously not liking the idea of having to expose a few details about himself, rather than getting right into studying and leaving as soon as possible. "Ugh, not this again. You know what happened last time we did this!"

"Hmm…. Hey, Chem, you have secrets you want to keep, right?" Al asked, smiling when the boy nodded.

"And you don't like it when people want to know about it, right?"

Another nod, another smile.

"So you should know what it feels like when people want to know stuff about you, but you don't want them to know, right?"

Another nod.

"So you should know not to ask too much about an unwanted-to—be-answered question, right?"

Another nod.

"Good!" Al said, clapping his hands together and smiling at his brother. "He seems to understand enough."

Another groan escaped Ed's lips as he tilted his head backwards and stared at the ceiling, "Fine! But the runt has to start."

Chem puffed his cheeks and glared at Ed, obviously hating the fact that Ed just referred to him as 'small'. He kicked Ed's knee with the ball of his foot as his glare intensified and a grin found it's way onto the boy's face when he heard the oldest male yelp and massage his painful knee.

[sitting arrangement: Ed, Chem, Al ]

"God- what was that for!?" yelled a certain furious braided goldenette. [short for golden-haired person]

"You called me small! How else do you think I would react!?" replied Chem, arms crossed, eyes closed, and chin held high. "If you wanna be safe, don't call me short, small or any other word similar to it! You're no better! You're shorter than your younger brother!"

"DON'T CALL ME SHORT!"

Al sighed at the two arguing males, pinching the bridge of his nose and pushing Chem behind him, as to protect the boy from his older brother's rage.

"You two, please calm down!" Al said, raising his voice so that the other two may hear him. At once, the two stopped yelling at each other and returned to their original positions.

"Good. Now, please tell us a bit about yourself, Chem." Al said, smiling when said boy looked up at him with big and innocent eyes.

"Alright," the boy replied.

The two older boys stared at Chem as he placed his hands behind him to support his weight and swing his legs back and forth, smiling slightly at the thought of their own innocent childhood.

"Well, first of all…. Don't call me short." He said, glaring slightly at the older Eldrich before returning to staring at the ceiling.

"I think it's best if I told you some of my past…..

"Hmm…. I guess you could say that I'm a little anti-people. I don't really like crowds, or being around people in general, so that's sort of the reason on why I don't really have any friends. The kids from my class would usually ignore me or…. Stuff….

"Anyways! From the time I could remember until now, I guess you could say that my life's been full of mistakes I never want to talk about. I did things I'm sure mommy and daddy would hate me for, but that doesn't stop me from trying again and looking for what I did wrong. And eventually correcting them.

"I've been living with my mom, dad, and sister as a complete family for as long as I could remember. But all that changed when daddy left the family to do important business stuff two years ago. He was supposed to come back a month after he left, but some stuff happened, and daddy left us alone forever. Well, that's what mommy said anyways. I never really did understand what she meant.

"When I asked my older sister about it, she laughed at me strangely and pushed me out of my room, telling me that I'd find out when I'm smart enough. I kinda hated her for that, but I couldn't always rely on mommy and sissy to give me answers.

"From that time on, my mother gave me a 'mission', if you could call it that. My mission was to read as many books as I could and find the answer all by myself. I wasn't allowed to ask anyone, or else I'd lose.

"I've been reading since then," the boy said, pointing to two book shelves filled with books of different sizes, colors, even shapes!, "but I still couldn't find the correct answer. The time came when I asked my mom if he was dead. She shook her head and told me that I was 'close, yet so far.' I didn't like the answer, so I obviously continued my research.

"That's all I ever did ever since my 'mission' started. Read and read. Up until now, I still can't find the answers. I don't think I ever will, but that won't stop me.

"Alright. Now that that part of my life's exposed, I still have a few more. So please bear with me and listen carefully, for I will not repeat any of what I have just said or will say, again.

"I have a feeling that Missis Flernder told you about what I might have slipped about yesterday."

"The one about you saying that you'll 'keep your mind under control.'? That does sound kind of fishy." Ed said, position switched from 'lazy' to 'intrigued'. All the information the kid had given them has piqued both of the brother's interests. Thus, making them want to find out a little bit more about the child's past/life.

"Yeah," Chem replied solemnly.

"You know, you don't need to tell us if you don't want to," Al said, not even flinching when his brother glared at him. Obviously, Ed wanted to find out.

"Don't listen to Al. You might give us a few clues to help you with. Y'know, with your daddy-research and stuff." Ed said, grinning mischievously.

Al sighed, wondering how he and his brother ever became related to each other in any way.

"I can tell you guys some stuff, but not all. I'm pretty sure that you understand what your own brother just said about secrets a while ago." Chem said, smiling when Ed's face fell.

With a deep breath, the boy started.

"I have this problem with me-"

"No kidding."

"Shut up, brother!"

"AS I WAS SAYING BEFORE A CERTAIN BRAIDED IDIOT DECIDED TO CUT ME OFF,"

Ed growled, and Chem smiled.

"I have this problem which cannot be treated bu any doctor, but by myself. The doctor's don't even know what wrong with me. I have to find out what it is and fix it.

"It started on my 6th birthday. The moment the clock stroke 5:49 pm, I…. changed, per say. I guess you could say that I was enhanced, mentally, physically, and/or spiritually. But actually, it felt more like a curse.

"Since I was 'enhanced', people expected more of me, only to make me fall down. I hated the fact that people 'needed' me so much, that I shut them out.

"…. I'm sorry, but I can't disclose any more information. Thanks for listening somewhat patiently though."

The two brothers thought for a moment, eyes focusing solely on each other's as they exchanged silent ideas. Then nodded, deciding that they were to discuss about it later.

Al smiled and patted the young boy's head again, "You're really responsible and mature for your age. I'm sure your father is proud of you."

Ed grunted before ruffling Chem's hair, grinning at the boy. "Looks like the runt's not so small after all, eh?"

Chem smiled and looked up at Ed and Al, "Thank guys."

Ed sighed and ruffled his own hair, glaring silently at the ceiling, "Looks like I have to say something, huh? Equivalent Exchange, after all."

"Al and I lived with our mom and dad when we were younger. We learned stuff like Chemistry and biology at a very young age, due to the fact that we wanted to make our parents proud.

"And just like you, our dad left us for… important business. A while after, our mom passed away and we went to study under our Teacher. We were trained how to fight and defend ourselves, more chemistry, and more stuff.

"A few years passed and Al and I did something unforgivable. We broke some laws and we had to pay the price for our foolishness. After that, we went on out own little journey and researched for a way to fix what we did.

"Then the time came when we needed to face the truth once again and accept it, whether we wanted to or not. Long story-short, we found ourselves here." Ed finished, finally looking down at the young boy who stayed silent the entire time.

Chem had his hands neatly folded on his lap as he stared at the wall, seemingly dazed for the moment.

"Uh…. Chem? Are you alright?" Asked Al, shaking the young boy lightly.

Said boy blinked and seemingly 'woke up'. He looked up at Ed with a curious look plastered on his face.

"What do you wanna know?" sighed the braided goldenette.

"Were you short when you were younger as well?"

Al sighed as he lifted the boy up and away from his raging brother, "Brother, please calm down!"

"I will not calm down until I beat this kid up and make him pay!"

"Brother, calm down!"

"SHORTY, SHORTY~ ED'S A SHORTY~" sang the unfazed young boy from his perch on Al's shoulders as Al pushed his brother down.

"WHO'RE YOU CALLING SO SHORT THAT HIS HOUSE IS A BARBIE PLAYHOUSE!?"

* * *

**later that day**

* * *

Ed and Al sat beside Chem, each of them on either side of said boy, as they each took turns correcting the young boy's mistakes and errors.

"It's supposed to be Hydrogen, Helium, Lithium, THEN Beryllium. Not Beryllium before Lithium." Said Ed for the third time.

"But they're just so confusing!" grumbled Chem, glaring at the sheet of paper in front of him, which was a blank periodic table.

"How in the world is memorizing the first four elements in the Periodic Table hard!?"

"It's full of '-ium's!"

"That's supposed you make it easier!"

"But now all I can think about is '-ium'my [yummy] food!"

"HOW IS FOD RELATED TO THE PERIODIC TABLE!?"

"BECAUSE I'M HUNGRY, YOU SHORT-STACK!"

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SHORT THAT HE NEEDS A STOOL TO SIT ON THE TOILET!?"

"I NEVER SAID ANY OF THOSE, YOU SHORT-MINDED SHORTY!"

"Don't call me short! I'll rip off your feet and stick 'em on your head!"

"I'd like to see you try!"

"COME BACK HERE YOU ANNOYING BRAT!"

"BROTHER! STOP CHASING CHEM AROUND THE ROOM AND HELP ME FIX THE PAPERS!"

"STOP CALLING ME SHORT!"

"WE DIDN'T EVEN CALL YOU SHORT!"


End file.
